Chapter 2: The Planting of English America (1500-1733)

Introduction
• While Spain controlled most of the New World south of Florida and New Mexico, the rest of
North America remained mostly unexplored and unclaimed
• First settlements of North America were 1610 Spanish at Santa Fe, 1608 French at Quebec,
and 1607 English at Jamestown

• In the first half of the 16th century, England and Spain were allies
England's
Imperial • But then 1530s the Protestant Reformation started when King Henry VIII separated from the
Stirrings Roman Catholic Church
• 1558, the religious struggle ended when the Protestant Elizabeth became queen
• Rivalry with Catholic Spain, ex. 1570s and 80s Catholic Irish sought help from Spain to
escape English rule, but were brutally crushed

Elizabeth • English buccaneers attacked Spanish treasure ships and settlements to plunder and promote
Energizes Protestantism, ex. 1580 Francis Drake
England • Sir Humphrey Gilbert tried to establish a colony on Newfoundland, but died at sea
• 1585 half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh tried to establish a colony on Roanoke Island, but it
mysteriously disappeared
• 1588 Philip II sent an “Invincible Armada” to invade England, but was defeated heavily; Spain
had overstretched, and it was the beginning of the end for its New World empire
• The victory ensured England's naval dominance in the north Atlantic and eventually in the
world
• England, like Spain did, now had a strong, unified state, religious unity, and a sense of
nationalism

England on • Population grew from 3 million in 1550 to 4 million in 1600

the Eve of
• Enclosure forced small farmers to become tenants or landless proletariat
Empire
• The wool districts, where Puritanism was strong, were hit hard by economic depression in the
1500s, so the people drifted unemployed, causing some to conclude that England had a
“surplus population”, and were some of the first immigrants to America
• Non-eldest sons could not inherit land by the law of primogeniture, so sought fortune
elsewhere, so by the early 1600s the joint-stock company was perfected
• 1604 signed a peace treaty with Spain

England • King James I, motivated by gold and passage to India, chartered the Virginia Company,
Plants the motivated by short-term monetary gain, to fund a settlement in North America
Jamestown • Importantly, the charter granted the colonists the same rights as normal Englishmen
Seed • But faced many hardships; location was mosquito-infested, sea travel was dangerous, and the
colonists spent time looking for gold when they should have been getting food, so starvation
• 1608 Captain John Smith took rule and saved the colony from collapse
• Native American chieftain Powhatan wanted peace with the colonists, and his daughter
Pocahontas became a go-between to preserve peace and provide food
• 1610 a relief party finally came under Lord De La Warr, who imposed a military regime and
attacked the native Americans
Cultural Clash • The colonists and the people under Powhatan's rule had a tense truce; Powhatan at first
in the thought they could help him extend his power, while the colonists often stole Indian food
Chesapeake • 1610-14 Lord De La Warr fought the First Anglo-Powhatan War under orders from the
Virginia Comapy, ended by the marriage of Pocahontas to John Rolfe
• Eight years of tense peace, then 1622 Indians attacked because of disease and land pressure, so
the Virginia Company ordered devastating and continual retaliation
• 1644-46 in the Second Anglo-Powhatan War, the Indians tried again to expel the colonists, but
ended up being banished and formally separated from areas of white settlement
• The Powhatans lost because of disease, disorganization, and disposability

• For some, change was good; ex. the Lakotas (Sioux) became and thrived as horse-riding
The Indians'
nomadic hunters on the Great Plains
New World
• Disease wiped out, rearranged, and reinvented cultures
• European commerce replaced traditional barter-and-exchange networks that caused the Indians
to fight over prime grounds to hunt for the fur that the Europeans wanted using guns bought
from the Europeans, despite being underpaid for their work
• Indians not on the coast had more time and warning to adapt to the Europeans, ex. the few
European traders who penetrated to the Algonquians in the Great Lakes area had to go by the
Indians' ways

Virginia: • John Rolfe was the father of the tobacco industry and the savior of the Virginian economy;
Child of perfected its cultivation, so soon heavy European demand for it
Tobacco • Drawbacks of relying on tobacco: relentless hunger for more land for growing, exhausted the
soil, economy dependent on the non-constant price of one crop, and promoted the plantation
system which required much labor
• 1619 the first black slaves in North America were bought, but through the 1600s they
remained too expensive for most of the colonists
• 1619 the first pre-American representative self-government was born when the London
Company authorized the settlers to form the House of Burgesses
• King James I hated tobacco and distrusted the House of Burgesses, so revoked the charter of
the now-bankrupt Virginia Company and made Virginia a royal colony under his control

Maryland: • 1634 Lord Baltimore, a Catholic, founded Maryland for profit and to create a refuge for the
Catholic still-persecuted Catholics
Haven • So a tense situation developed with Catholic land barons on large estates next to Protestant
colonists on modest farms
• Like Virginia, it prospered from growing tobacco using mainly white indentured servants
• 1649 Lord Baltimore wanted to protect the Catholic minority, so pushed the Act of Toleration
that granted religious freedom to all Christians, but gave the death penalty to all others

• By the mid-1600s, England had secured several West Indian islands because Spain was
The West
weakened by overextension and distracted by rebellion in its Dutch provinces
Indies: Way
• Sugar was the basis of the economy as tobacco was for Virginia and Maryland, but sugar took
Station to
large amounts of resources to grow and process, so only the wealthy could grow it
Mainland
America • By 1700, the number of African slaves imported to work the plantations outnumbered the
colonists four to one
 • For the first time in the New World, formal codes, ex. the harsh 1661 Barbados slave code,
defined the slaves' legal status

Colonizing the • 1640-1660 English Civil War, during which no colonization occurred
Carolinas • 1670 Carolina created when king Charles II granted land to the Lords Proprietors
• Prospered economically because closely associated with the West Indies; grew food for them
and were heavily populated by colonists from Barbados
• Those from Barbados brought its slave system, so soon, with the help of the Savannah Indians,
were capturing and selling Indians into slavery; but 1707 the Savannahs decided to end the
alliance and move to the newly-founded and Indian-friendlier Pennsylvania, so the Carolinians
“thinned” their numbers
• Rice became the main crop, so many African slaves experienced in its cultivation were
imported
• Charles Town became a busy seaport that attracted non-firstborn aristocrats and those seeking
religious toleration
• The Catholic Spaniards in Florida disliked the influx of Protestants, so numerous Anglo-
Spanish wars that failed to wipe out Carolina

The • Poor outcasts and religious dissenters from Virginia moved into the wild northern Carolina
Emergence of • They strongly resisted authority and were sandwiched between aristocratic Virginia and
North southern Carolina, so 1712 became North Carolina and separated from South Carolina
Carolina • North Carolina and Rhode Island were the most democratic, most independent-minded, and
least aristocratic of the thirteen colonies
• The North Carolinians often had violent relations with the Indians that usually ended with the
Indians' defeat, ex. 1711 with the Tuscaroras and 1715 with the Yamasees
• But the more inland Indian tribes, ex. the Iroquois, Cherokees, and Creeks, were able to stave
off British settlement for half a century

Late-Coming • Founded 1733, 52 years after the second-to last original colony, Pennsylvania
Georgia: The • Was intended as a buffer between the more valuable Carolinas and the Spanish in Florida and
Buffer Colony the French in Louisiana, so was the only colony to receive English funding from the start
• The founders, such as James Oglethorpe, wanted to protect the northern colonies, create a
haven for those imprisoned for debt, produce silk and wine, and avoid slavery
• Savannah was a melting-pot because of religious tolerance of all Christians except for
Catholics, ex. John Wesley did religious work here before founding the Methodist Church
• Grew slowly because of the weather, restrictions on black slavery, and Spanish attacks

• The plantation colonies included Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia
The Plantation
• Shared characteristics: exported agricultural products, kept slaves, much land was held by a
Colonies
few people, scattered population, religious toleration, and expansionary

The Iroquois • In the Mohawk Valley in New York, the Iroquois Confederacy was founded in the late 1500s
by Deganawidah and Hiawatha that allied the nations of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas,
Cayugas, and Senecas
• Iroquois society was centered around the longhouse, which housed several maternally related
 families
• Although males were dominant in society, their rank was determined by their mothers' families
• The Confederacy ended warfare between themselves, defeated their rivals the Hurons, Eries,
and Petuns, and grew by adopting captives and refugees, ex. the Tuscaroras
• When the Europeans arrived, took advantage of the rivalry between the French and the
English, but were split by the American Revolution
• Many were forced to move into reservations, where many fell into moral decline, violence,
and alcoholism; but then 1799 Handsome Lake was inspired by a vision to successfully
reverse the Iroquois' moral decline

Summary • England gained the unity and strength needed to begin colonization after the Protestant
Reformation and the defeat of the Spanish Armada
• The first settlers faced many difficulties, including starvation and strife with Indians
• But eventually, the exportation of cash crops stabilized the southern colonies, although this led
to the beginning of African slavery in North America, and conflict with the Indians remained
not uncommon
 Chapter 3: Settling the Northern Colonies (1619-1700)
The Protestant
• 1517, Martin Luther posted the 97 Theses that declared sola scriptora and that sparked the
Reformation
Protestant Reformation
Produces
• John Calvin was influenced by Luther to found Calvinism by 1536 writing the Institutes of the
Puritanism
Christian Religion that argued for predestination and the conversion experience
• 1530s King Henry VIII was breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, so some, called
the Puritans, wanted a total purification of the Anglican Church from Catholic tradition
• The Puritans were heavily influenced by Calvinism, and some, called the Separatists, disliked
the seating of the chosen next to the damned during worship, so wanted to break away from
the Anglican Church, and King James I realized the political danger, so expelled them

The Pilgrims • Some of the expelled Seperatists 1608 settled in Holland, but disliked how their children were
End Their growing up Dutch, so 1620 sailed on the Mayflower to Plymouth Bay in New England
Pilgrimage • They wrote the Mayflower Compact, a crude document that was a step towards self-rule
and Plymouth • The first winter was extremely harsh and deadly, but they were eventually able to stabilize,
partly because of the leadership of William Bradford
• Was important morally and spiritually, not economically or populationally

The Bay • More moderate, non-Separatist Puritans back in England wanted to reform the Anglican
Colony Bible Church from within with support from the Parliament, but 1629 King Charles I dismissed the
Commonwealt Parliament, so colonized Massachusetts
h • Massachusetts was better off and became the most influential outpost in New England because
many settled there, the leadership of John Winthrop, fishing and shipbuilding, and the shared
purpose of building a holy, model society

Building the • The provincial government was very inclusive, but was not a democracy because Puritans had
Bay Colony more power than non-Puritans, while both groups were subject to the same laws and taxes
• Religious leaders, ex. John Cotton, had great power because they influenced admission to the
church by questioning those who had supposedly had the conversion experience, but to a
limited degree because church and state were semi-separate
• The Puritans were worldly, enjoyed simple pleasures, and believed that they had a holy calling
to commit seriously to work and to engage in worldly pursuits
• Hell was very real and fearsome

• Massachusetts was tightly knit because of shared beliefs, but Quakers and others challenged
Trouble in the
Puritan authority, caused tension, and were punished
Bible
• Anne Hutchinson said God had revealed to her that a holy life did not necessarily indicate
Commonwealt
salvation and that the saved could do whatever they liked (antinomianism), so was banished to
h
New York, where she was killed by Indians
• Minister and extreme Separatist Roger Williams said that they should break completely from
the Anglican Church, the Bay Colony's charter unlawfully took land from the Indians, and the
civil government should not have authority over religion, so 1635 was banished

The Rhode • 1636 Roger Williams fled to Rhode Island and built the first Baptist church and established
Island total freedom of religion
“Sewer” • Had exceptional freedom of opportunity, with manhood suffrage
• Was mostly populated by outcasts, so was looked down upon by others, but became strongly
individualistic and independent

New England • The fertile Connecticut River valley was where the first westward expansion began, with 1636
Spreads Out Reverend Thomas Hooker leading Puritans in settling the area
• 1639 the Connecticut River colonists drafted the Fundamental Orders that established a
democratic government
• 1638 settlement of New Haven began with the intent of forming an even closer church-state
bond, but 1662 merged with Connecticut because fell into disfavor with King Charles II

• Population growth, economic depression, and religious repression caused a wave of English
The English
migration to the New World
• To the south:
◦ Some colonists were artisans or gentry, but 3/4ths were indentured servants from the middle
classes
◦ The indentured servants provided the labor to farm tobacco before they became freedmen,
but late 1600s the stream of labor dried up because of rebuilding after the 1666 London fire
and slower population growth, so planters turned to black slaves
• To the north:
◦ Most of the migration occurred 1629-1642
◦ Most migrants were Puritans traveling as families and even communities, but despite their
shared faith, communities differed greatly in economic and political heritage and practice
◦ Maine was unable to be colonized, so 1677 was absorbed by Massachusetts
◦ 1641 New Hampshire was absorbed by Massachusetts but 1679 was excised on royal order

Puritans • The Indians in New England had been greatly weakened by disease
Versus Indians • At first, the Wampanoags, such as Squanto, under Massasoit were friendly and helpful
• But peace ended after expansion into the Connecticut River valley, ex. the 1637 extermination
of the Pequots
• People in England protested ^, so some small attempts at Christianizing the Indians made
• 1675-76 Massasoit's son Metacom formed an inter-tribal alliance and managed to beat back
the colonists to an extent, but was a lasting defeat for the Indians

• 1643 two Massachusetts and two Connecticut colonies, all Puritan, banded together in the
Seeds of
New England Confederation for defense and for inter-colonial legal problems
Colonial
Unity and • Was weak, but was the first time delegates worked together and colonists voted on an inter-
Independence colonial scale
• Before and during the English Civil War, the crown neglected the American colonies and
allowed them to become semi-autonomous commonwealths
• But when Charles II was restored to the throne, there was no hope of purifying the Anglican
church, and he wanted to rule the colonies more actively and aggressively
• Massachusetts was the most defiant colony, so was punished by charter grants to others and
charter revocation from the Bay Colony
Andros • 1686 the crown imposed the Dominion of New England with the goals of defending against
Promotes the Indians and efficiently administrating the English Navigation Laws that prohibited trade with
First non-English countries
American • ^ was headed by Sir Edmund Andros who was disliked by the colonists because of his open
Revolution affiliation with the Anglican Church, his noisy and Sabbath-working soldiers, and his heavy
curbing of the colonists' liberties
• 1688, The Glorious Revolution influenced some Bostonians to overthrow Andros and the
Dominion, and caused unrest elsewhere until royal governors who relaxed trade restrictions
stepped in
• But Massachusetts did not gain much; 1691 was made a royal colony and had its charter
replaced, and now all male property holders, not just church members, could vote
• But English officials, many of them incompetent, corrupt, and indifferent, remained in position
and kept local leaders from those positions

• Late 1500s, the Netherlands won its independence from Spain with the help of England
Old
• 1600s, was a Dutch golden age during which it became a naval and commercial power,
Netherlanders
fighting three inconclusive Anglo-Dutch naval wars, and also a colonial power with the Dutch
at New
East India Company
Netherland
• 1609 the Netherlands hired English Henry Hudson who explored the Hudson River
• The Dutch West India Company traded, raided, and established colonies such as New
Netherland and New Amsterdam for profit
• New Amsterdam was characterized by distrust of those against the Dutch Reformed Church,
aristocratic ways, and diverse population

Friction with • The Dutch colonies were troubled with incompetent leaders, shareholders demanding
English and dividends, and retaliating Indians
Swedish • New England disliked the Dutch intrusion and wanted to attack, but didn't
Neighbors • After the 1618-1648 Thirty Years' War, Sweden had a golden age, so tenuously set up New
Sweden in Dutch territory, so 1655 Dutch troops under Peter Stuyvesant took over it

Dutch • The Dutch settlements in America were short-lived; New Netherland was surrounded and
Residues in infiltrated by English, and New Amsterdam was seized by England and renamed New York
New York • But the Dutch still influenced New York culturally and left an autocratic and aristocratic spirit

Penn's Holy • Mid-1600s onwards, Quakers, AKA the Religious Society of Friends, were English religious
Experiment in dissenters who advocated passive resistance and were persecuted
Pennsylvania • Quaker William Penn wanted to establish a safe haven for Quakers with a liberal government
while making a profit, so got a grant from the crown
• Attracted many immigrants by advertising widely and truthfully and by his liberal land policy

• At first, the Quakers in Pennsylvania had an excellent relationship with the Indians, but other
Quaker
groups who sheltered there detracted from it
Pennsylvania
• The government and society were very liberal, so attracted many different peoples and
and Its
outcasts who sought economic opportunity, civil liberty, and religious freedom
Neighbors
• Pennsylvania quickly grew economically and populationally
 • Despite Pennsylvania's success, William Penn was not well liked by the colonists and fell into
legal trouble and ill health
• 1664 New Jersey was established by royal grant, 1674 was split into East and West New
Jersey and was all acquired by the Quakers, but 1702 was recombined into a royal colony
• 1703 Delaware was granted its own assembly, but remained governed by Pennsylvania until
the Revolution

The Middle • The Middle Colonies consisted of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania
Way in the • Commonalities:
Middle
◦ Had fertile soil and produced much grain
Colonies
◦ Had rivers with few waterfalls that encouraged exploration and water-powered industry
◦ Industries included lumbering, shipbuilding, and commerce
◦ Landholdings and local government were bigger than those in New England, but smaller
than those in the South
◦ Had diverse populations, religious tolerance, and economic and social democracy
• Benjamin Franklin was a Middle Colonist and is a representative period American personality

Summary • Religious persecution was often the incentive to establish a northern colony
• The northern colonies varied widely in religious toleration and relations with Indians
• The English crown had not paid much attention to its American colonies, so they became
semi-autonomous, so England made an attempt at regaining control that was soon defeated
• The Dutch established small colonies in America, but they were soon overcome by the English